Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Well, it appears this blog closed for the summer. Which is fitting since it felt that Sweden (at least Lund) did the same. When almost the entire country has 5-6 weeks of vacation, they need to take it sometime. And that "sometime" seems to be July.

We went to the U.S. during this time for a wonderful visit, and even though we thought we had lots of time, we still didn't get to see everyone we'd hoped to. But we had a great visit, and the boys learned to swim in Nana's pool which was an amazing thing to witness. Henrik went from a floatie ring to jumping independently into the pool and swimming to us.

When we returned it was mid-July, and I thought, where did everyone go? I'd heard that Lund, a University town, was "sleepy" in the summers, but I'd never experienced a town fall asleep before. It felt like the little fairies from Sleeping Beauty had flown through the streets with their magic wands and put everyone to sleep. In general, everything shuts down, even summer camps, soccer, and swim lessons! And since no one is here, no one plans anything, and I think because of that, no one is here. The boys asked for play dates with their school friends, but everyone was on vacation.

There were a few people here and there, mostly tourists who I quickly discern now as they wear back packs and walk in couples or groups. I missed my friends and family from home, and being in an empty town didn't help. I needed to get re-grounded here, so I walked around quiet Lund, and took in her beauty. I noticed doorways I hadn't seen before, as I usually was rushing from one place to another.

And I loved the "Closed for Vacation" signs in the shop windows:

The University building sat quietly, waiting for her students to return:

And now, the students are returning. The bike racks are becoming full and the average age of the town is skewing closer to 19-23 or so. With everyone back I appreciate the quiet summer, but am glad the town is waking again.